title: Improved liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method for the determination of ethyl glucuronide concentrations in hair: applications to forensic cases.
abstract: Ethyl glucuronide (EtG) is a direct marker of ethanol consumption, and its assay in hair is an efficient tool for chronic alcoholism diagnosis. In 2012, the Society of Hair Testing proposed a new consensus for hair concentrations interpretation, strongly advising the use of analytical methods providing a limit of quantification of less than 3 pg/mg. The present work describes the optimization and validation of a previously developed liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method in order to comply with this recommendation. The concentration range of this improved method is from 3 to 1,000 pg/mg. Some cases are then described to illustrate the usefulness of hair EtG: a forensic post-mortem case and two cases of suspension of driving licences. Finally, hair samples of some teetotallers (n = 10) have been analyzed, which allowed neither to quantitate nor to detect any trace of EtG.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University Hospital, 2 avenue Martin Luther King, 87042, Limoges cedex, France, laurent.imbert@unilim.fr.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Imbert
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gaulier
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dulaurent
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morichon
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bevalot
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Izac
authors.forename: Gérard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lachâtre
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D005965:Glucuronates / Q000032:analysis*; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012016:Reference Values; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D013695:Temperance
chemical_list: D005965:Glucuronates; C093924:ethyl glucuronide